Do targeting ethnic communities segment the French identity?
Sunday, 20 January 2008
Multicultural communication or the key for a successful ethnic PR in France
After a few days without leaving any thoughts on this blog, I started thinking about what makes diversity work in our “mixed ethnic” countries. And I thought it works best when this diversity is one whole mix, part of one whole culture: a multicultural culture. So is multicultural communication the future for an ethnic PR in France? That’s anyway what works best for the moment, simply because the idea of gathering people is much easier to accept than the idea of splitting them up. Of course, there is the risk of stereotyping a perfect homogeneous society where all the groups are exactly complementary; and some could also fear that communicating on multicultural societies would lead to giving up some aspects of ethnic group identities and keep only some of them, in order to fit in the whole general identity… Well, maybe here is the limit of ethnic PR in France: in the public sphere we could all belong to one French identity, and in the private sphere… Everybody does what he or she wants! That may sound like a utopian theory, but I think it’s actually becoming true. I’m not saying that ethnic communities are disappearing, melting in one only French culture (and I think that would be sad!), but I just look around me and see how things are lived in the young generations. For example, let’s talk about the French football team: in 1998 some pointed out all the different ethnic origins of the team, where we could see more Black and Arabic people than Whites… But until I heard this comment, I actually didn’t pay attention to this! To me these footballers were just the French team, and I didn’t care about their skin colours… And of course I was not the only one to think this way. Therefore, I believe that this will be the way of thinking in France in the future…So, probably traditional ethnic PR and Marketing, targeting specific communities, will still play a minor role in the country, while multicultural communication will make more and more sense.
I appreciate you for posting such a wonderful Blog.The first step to finding "ownable" Ethnic Marketing spaces is to discover which groups of ethnic consumers are underserved or are not actively targeted by an industry's product or service offerings.
Its a great Blog.The first step to finding "ownable" Ethnic Marketing spaces is to discover which groups of ethnic consumers are underserved or are not actively targeted by an industry's product or service offerings.
In France, 1 person out of 4 has at least one foreigner grand parent. According to an opinion poll of 2006, 75% of French people think that the French’s wide diversity of origins is a positive thing. But maybe the only way to make this work in one country is to have strong common values and identity: that is what the French Republic's principles are about: all French people equally share one nationality, and shouldn't be differentiated according to their ethnic origin, race or religion.
Therefore, ethnic PR can't work as naturally as it does in the USA or the UK... With this blog, I want to raise the question of segmenting the French community according to its different ethnic groups, for communication and commercial purposes: will this threaten France’s unity, already fragile in some areas, or will this just give a new voice to some groups who will then feel more accepted?
Let’s start debating, give me your opinion! Be sincere, be critic, be naughty… Just express yourself !
I’m now studying for a MA in Public Communication and Public Relations in the University of Westminster, London. I also studied in France: International History in La Sorbonne, and English and Russian languages. I’ve finally decided to study and work in the PR industry as this is involving all that I like doing most: meeting new people, adapting to new point of views and find a way to understand the others, conveying a message.
I’ve travelled a lot (Brazil, Maghreb, Italy, Turkey, Armenia, Russia, Tanzania, Singapore, USA), and I’ve always been very interested in international relations and cultural exchanges.
Ethnic marketing: accepting the challenge of cultural diversity, by Guilherme D. Pires and P. John Stanton. Publisher: Thomson, London 2005. 274 pages
Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective, by Felipe Korzenny and Betty Ann Korzenny. Publisher: Elsevier, 2005. 352 pages
Race, Class, and Culture: A Study in Afro-American Mass Opinion, by Robert Charles Smith and Richard Seltzer. Publisher: SUNY Press, 1992. 203 pages
Ethnik ! Le Marketing de la différence, by Anne Senges. Publisher: Autrement, 2003. 170 pages
Book review: Anne Senges and ethnic marketing in France
Anne Senges is an independent journalist who lives in San Francisco. She’s correspondent in the USA for the magazine CB News, the weekly magazine of communication and business.
In her book “Ethnik! Le marketing de la difference”, she compares American and French approach to ethnic communities. About France, she lists all the brakes on developing ethnic marketing: refusing to segment the population into different ethnic communities in the name of the Republic “one and not divisible”, the absence of statistics about ethnic markets, lack of ethnic minorities in adverts and medias in general…
However, she says that the French are aware that their “integration model” is in crisis and needs to be modernised and adapted to new social realities; but they don’t want to question the French “universalistic philosophy”. Therefore, they prefer using the “multicultural marketing”, a “mixing marketing”, rather than targeting specific ethnic communities.
She also highlights the great potential for ethnic marketing in France: these families usually have a lot of children and a huge consuming power even if they are often affected by unemployment. Therefore, some discreetly do ethnic marketing: Bridel with Laban milk, Mecca-cola (against coke, against America…) or suburbs’ supermarkets develop casher or halal departments. But advertising stays a "white" universe, even with some exceptions showing some stars (Zidane is the most famous one).
Anne Senges concludes her book with talking about the USA’s approach: being American today is sharing a culture and consuming habits more than a skin colour or an ethnic origin. Therefore, France’s challenge is to display its multi cultural country with pride without becoming too politically correct.
2 comments:
I appreciate you for posting such a wonderful Blog.The first step to finding "ownable" Ethnic Marketing spaces is to discover which groups of ethnic consumers are underserved or are not actively targeted by an industry's product or service offerings.
Its a great Blog.The first step to finding "ownable" Ethnic Marketing spaces is to discover which groups of ethnic consumers are underserved or are not actively targeted by an industry's product or service offerings.
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